Le Moyne College

      Are They Back ?

       Le Moyne Dominates Alfred, 11-1

    The Le Moyne Hockey Club had many questions about their abilities with such a young team this season. Are they good enough to win it all? Are they TOO young and inexperienced? The team took a big step in answering those questions with a dominating performance against league rival Alfred on Saturday night. The team got 3 goals each from freshman Adam Reask (his 2nd 3 goal performance in the last 3 games) and junior Bay Stoker and 2 goals from their linemate, Bob Shattell, to lead the 'Phins to an 11-1 drubbing of their nemesis. Stoker finished the game with 6 points, Reask with 5 and Shattell with 4. Freshman Sean Grogan scored the first of his career as did freshman Dan Sokol. Freshman Alex Vernetti got the first point of his college career, assisting on a late goal by Stoker. The usually defensive minded Justin Stranz chipped in with his first goal of the year, as well as 2 assisits. Known more for his hammering bodychecks and intimidating style of play, defenseman Stranz scored a shorthanded goal on an end to end rush. "Hammer thinks he is Bobby Orr now, There is going to be no living with him" said Coach Andy Musto. Stanz' goal was only the 2nd goal scored by a Le Moyne defenseman this season. "Until the last couple of games the defense hasn't had time to jump in the play. They had to worry about the forwards not covering them or getting back to help. We have some guys on defense who, if given the opportunity, can put the puck in the net. Now that the forwards are starting to help out defensively, I expect the D to be able to get involved in the offense more" Musto said.

The Team jumped out to a 4-0 lead. Shattell opened the scoring just 37 seconds into the game, and the team never looked back. "We finally clicked the way I knew we could" said Musto. "The boys have the individual talent. They finally used it in a team way. We have been telling them this all season, that if they play together they can do great things. They did, and they did".

Rookie Reask looked comfortable on the top line with Shattell and Stoker, replacing the injured Adam Bezek. He now has 9 goals in his last 3 games. " The thing about Adam (Reask) is that he can play with anyone. He can make people around him better. He's just a smart player" said Musto.

The game was not without the now all too common injury bug hitting the squad. Highly touted freshman defenseman Brendon Chin was injured in the 2nd period when he was run into by teammate Bay Stoker. He sufferd a hand injury and could be sidelined a week. "I guess our guys have to eat more Wheaties or something" joked Musto. "It was a freak accident. But it was a good hit by Bay. Unfortunately, he hit the wrong guy".

The team also held Alfred to a season low 26 shots on goal. Goalie Eric Manley made several stellar stops to earn his 3rd win of the season. "Our defensive play finally improved. Our forwards got back and the shot totals for Alfred show that. That was a big problem and the way we backchecked needs to continue" said the Coach.

The victory gives Le Moyne 4 points and sole possession of first place in the UNYCHL. They are 2-0 in league play, 3-2 overall. Cazenovia and Hamilton are hot on their heels with 3 points each. The Dolphins and Caz face off next Friday in a battle of the undefeateds. Caz has a win and a tie and Le Moyne 2 wins in the early going.

The team plays league rival Cazenovia for first place in a UNYCHL League game this Friday, November 20th at 8:30 PM at the Nation Arena in Nedrow in the first game of a home and home series. The two teams meet the following Friday, December 4th, at 8:30 PM at the Coliseum to wrap up the regular season meetings between the teams. The Nation Arena in Nedrow is only a 10 minute drive from campus, the team hopes that its fans will come and support them as the Cazenovia fans are always there in force.

  ICE CHIPS: Adam Bezek missed the game with an upper body injury...Associate Coach John Ives also missed the game, a victim of the flu bug making its way through the team...Steve Streiff missed his 3rd consecutive game with a shoulder injury. He hopes to start practicing this week and possibly playing Friday night against Cazenovia...Bob Shattell leads the team in scoring with 17 points, followed closely by Bay Stoker and Adam Reask who have 16 and 15 points, respectively...

UPCOMING GAMES:

UNYCHL STANDINGS:

unychl.tripod.com/id2.html